04/29/03

ALICE TALLMADGE

Nearly 90 percent of the state's 85 cases of whooping cough reported this year have been in Lane County, the county public health office said Monday.

The 75 cases reported in the county are a sharp increase over the 18 cases last year, said Martha deBroekert, public health nurse and epidemiologist at Lane County Public Health.

Karen Gillette, manager of the agency, said the office has seen a rise in cases since January. She attributed some of the increase to family clusters in which several members contracted the disease.

Health officials are concerned because although whooping cough, or pertussis, is generally mild in adolescents and adults, it can cause severe illness in infants and young children. About 50 percent of the reported cases in Lane County have been among children ages 6 to 16, said Melinda Kletzok, county public information officer.

Health officials are asking county residents who have had a cough for more than a week to see their doctor. Pertussis can be treated with antibiotics, which also can prevent the disease's spread among people who have been exposed. Officials also ask that people diagnosed with pertussis remain home until they no longer are infectious.

Pertussis is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. In the early 20th century, it was one of the most common childhood diseases in the United States and a major cause of child mortality.

A vaccine, which is administered only to children, became available in the 1940s. Since then, the number of cases reported annually in the United States has dropped from 200,000 to 4,400.